Independent participatory media for Iran

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi announced that the confessions given by recently detained “spies” will soon be broadcast by the ministry.

“A report on the activities of the CIA-linked spies has already been aired on TV,” Moslehi said. “Part of their confessions will also be aired soon in order to clarify their situation.”

Moslehi added: “According to the announcement issued by the intelligence ministry, 30 members of this network operating in the country have been arrested, and 42 U.S. intelligence officers have also been identified in various countries, and five people who tried to recruit internal elements abroad have also been identified.”

According to the intelligence minister, the network was mainly active in gathering information about Iran’s nuclear and oil and gas industries and the ministry of energy, as well as computer software used by Iranian government organizations.

He said the spy ring was also involved in sabotage, adding: “Since they did not succeed through the Green Sedition, they were trying to achieve their objectives through sabotage.”

The Iranian establishment refers to the protests that followed the 2009 presidential elections as “sedition.”

On Saturday, Iran’s intelligence ministry announced that it had arrested 30 people on charges of espionage, thereby dismantling a spy network linked to the CIA.

The network drew people in by offering them visas, residency, employment and education abroad, then used them to gather information, they said. The ministry also maintains that the network was run by some of the top CIA operatives in several countries. They also named U.S. embassies in the UAE, Turkey and Malaysia as bases of operation.

On Sunday, Fars news agency cited a knowledgeable source in reporting that a number of senior government administrators are among those recently detained.